I'm an electrical engineering student and I wanted to buy a new notebook for university use but also for everyday life. I use the PC to start quite heavy programs like Matlab and Simulink, Autocad but also to create and read Excel and Word files, Power Point presentations and open various Chrome pages. I wanted to know from the most experienced, based on the use that I intend to do, what is the best processor between i7 7700HQ and i7 8550U?

Personally, I would buy a laptop that supported dual/switchable graphics for the work you will be doing. Get something with an nvidia or amd graphics processor so you will not be dependent on Intel graphics alone. You will be glad you did.